From Kentucky to DC: Stop Mountaintop Removal

UPDATE: Appalachia Rising is posting statements from coal state constituents arrested in Washington, DC sit-ins today at Congressional offices for Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee and Virginia.From Guest Blogger Harrison Kirby of Louisville, KY, cross-posted from We Are Powershift on June 5, 2012.
We arent evil, I promise, said the evil congressmans intern after he said he couldnt help stop mountaintop removal coal mining. If you ever become a congressional intern and you find yourself in a situation where you must clarify that you are not in fact a villain, you are probably doing something wrong. If that terrible offense is mountaintop removal mining, you are definitely wrong.
To right that wrong is why I am lobbying in Washington DC during the Alliance for Appalachias Week in Washington. My name is Harrison Kirby, and I live in Louisville, Kentucky. I work on climate issues, for example by helping plan the iMatter March in Louisville with a teen-led youth group called OurEarthNow. We continually take action in the face of massiveand acceleratingdestruction of our planets climate. But the issue which I care the most about, the one which I believe is the most viscous, terrible, and obviously wrong is mountaintop removal mining. I work with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth to create a movement to end mountaintop removal mining and transition to a just economy. I realize that Eastern Kentucky might not count as my house because I live in the city, but I do live in Kentucky, and seeing a mountaintop removal site makes me and so many other people say I claim this land, and my land is being destroyed.
The arguments against mountaintop removal have been laid out plainlyit increases poverty, cancer and birth defect rates among the people nearbybut lobbying involves a bit of tact to get an intern on board with The Clean Water Protection Act. (We rarely get to speak to the actual congressperson.) This bill, H.R. 1375, would restore the Clean Water Act to its original intent. Basically, it says that you cannot fill streams with waste. This would end the process of mountaintop removal. Currently, the bill only has 124 cosponsors, so there is plenty of progress to be made amongst the 435 congress peopleand we have over 100 people here to lobby. You can call in to support us here.
These representatives came to DC from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, where mountaintop removal actually takes place, as well as from 26 other states as distant as California, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire. We lobbied yesterday and today. Our labels range from concerned citizen to constituent and mountaintop removal victim. Our presence here has shown that this is an issue which is not going away. Some interns are trained to sit, listen, and then respond with a zombie-like moaning of the phrase, Ill take this to the congress person. Fortunately, most are not and genuinely respond to our demands.
The interns of the congresspeople have shown a remarkable amount of solidarity with the victims of mountaintop removal sites. An intern from Ohio told me about how he has experienced the same destructive force because of fracking, while a well-bearded fellow from Minnesota explained how he supported me because he has seen the damage from sulfide mines near his own community back home. Every person still requires a bit of convincing, but weve already gotten a few more cosponsors this week. The only unresponsive interns to whom Ive talked are from Kentucky, where our politics are bought and paid for by the coal industry.
There, coal may be king, and money may speak louder than people, but on a national level, there is concern and desire for change. As a city-folk, Im usually the person helping coal-field residents fight the industry. But here, Im one of the people moved to tears by national support for the protection of my own states land. If there is one thing to know about mountaintop removal mining, then it is simply what you do to the land, you do to the people.
And as a much stronger man than me said , if you support mountaintop removal, then you are evil.
UPDATE: Sitting in for Mountain Justice (also cross-posted from We Are Powershift)From Harrison Kirby of Louisville, KY - Call Congress to share your support this amazing action in progress!
Yesterday I posted about lobbying Congress. Im back in their offices today, but, well, this time I dont have their permission. Hal Rogers is a congressman from Eastern Kentucky. His district contains more mountaintop removal than any of the other 435 districts. Consequently, it is also the sickest and most depressed, and it has the shortest life expectancy. Meanwhile, he refuses to even speak to any of us about mountaintop removal. My fellow Kentuckians and I will chant, sing, and above all, stay in his office until he talks to us and agrees to end mountaintop removal. He will hear our demands for change, he will see our pictures of filthy water, and we will not leave.
Nobody who lives next to a mountain deserves to have to bathe their children in red water. They should not be afraid to let their grandchildren play outside, and they should not have to watch their neighbors die of cancer. Nobody should be afraid of flyrock zooming away from a mountain and killing them in their sleep. All of these things have happened in the past, and they will continue to happen until mountaintop removal mining is ended.
Hal Rogers wants to keep mining the tops off of mountains until the coal is gone, but we will stay here until Hal Rogers agrees to stop sacrificing our land and our people on the filthy altar of coal. And we have all day long.
Greenpeace note: Kentucky Rep. Hal Rogers has received $314,000 from coal interests since 1999 and has sided with dirty energy interests on 95% of select votes tracked by Oil Change International's DirtyEnergyMoney.com.